The Bethesda Blog has a news roundup for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the upcoming RPG sequel. They point to a RipTen preview where the author describes a vampire encounter, and interviews by the tireless Pete Hines, who discussed the game with Computec, Destructoid, FBC, and GameSpot during Gamescom. They also note the news on Joystiq that the first two DLC packs for Skyrim will be timed Xbox 360 exclusives: "Earlier this morning, Microsoft announced that the first two pieces of game add-on content for Skyrim will be releasing exclusively on Xbox 360 — 30 days before they’re available anywhere else. When we have more details on the content, we’ll let everyone know. "

It is one thing to churn out quick DLC content post release of a game, but it is sickening to see companies not even attempt to hide the fact they are excluding content months in advance just to make some extra cash at the consumer's expense.

They're not excluding!

In a game like Skyrim a billion ideas come up. Some of those ideas get cut because they suck. Other ideas get cut because they simply don't have enough time or money. With DLC, they can revisit those ideas at a later date. So, when sitting in a project meeting and realizing they need to take something out, rather than going through the heart-wrenching process of deciding what audiences never need to see they can instead just say "well, we'll add this later on."

It's not "excluding," it's giving you something that you wouldn't have seen otherwise. I swear, it's like some of you think that these companies either have infinite budgets and infinite time or you think they're exactly perfect with their time planning and never have to drop features and content as they move closer to release.

Speaking as a developer, things that are cut before going into beta--or worse submitting for concole TRC--are prime candidates for future DLC.

While the release candidate is going through all of the testing and bug-fixing, content creation can continue on things all that stuff seperately from the game without endangering the release date as it's not part of the game game. That content can be finished, tested, and certified ready for release shortly after launch or even on day one.

No problem with DLC here. Like games, you should take a few minutes to seek out reviews and see what you're getting for your money. And this time-limite exclusivity is perfectly acceptable to me. Wish more bonus content/DLC had been done this way (I'm looking at you Mr. Play-as-the-Joker in Arkham Asylum on the PS3)